Red-Light Cameras Go Nuts in Vista

In the busiest part of the day, the traffic lights at the intersection of Santa Fe Drive at Vista Village Drive in downtown Vista went off around 11:50 a.m. on September 14, due to the excessive heat.

When a sheriff's deputy arrived to help direct traffic, he said everyone was doing what they were supposed to as far as stopping and yielding the right of way, but cars were backed up three or four blocks in each direction.

The officer, along with two members of the sheriff's senior patrol, helped direct traffic through the flashing red light intersection using hand signals and whistles for about 45 minutes.

A signal-repair tech for the city arrived and said his thermometer showed the temperature was 102 degrees. He stated that an internal fan or thermostat must have failed. The electronic systems inside the signal control box were hot to the touch, even after the outer-box cover was opened for ventilation.

The several red-light cameras at the intersection flashed away as motorists were instructed to move through the intersection. The officer said that an incident report was already filed and that the officer who reviews camera violations should be aware of it and not issue tickets.

Comments

Oh, they were "back in operation at 12:35" huh? I went through there about 3:30 this afternoon and the lights were flashing red, no cops to be seen anywhere (not that that is unusual) and "cars were backed up three or four blocks in each direction." I'm not sure that this had anything to do with the red light cameras. Not sure it didn't either.

If it was the cameras, they were behaving, going "Nuts", just the way the local pols who put them in place are always going. That is, "Nuts". Courtesy of the Vista City Clowncil.

A photo enforcement system has NEVER stopped unsafe driving as it occurs. Blinding and distracting drivers with a searing flash makes our roads even more dangerous. Protect your privacy and hard earned dollars with the PlateHood, Your automotive privacy solution. PlateHood.com

Hey VIsduh, the tech did say it may happen again because of the heat. I touched the electronics after the box was opened and they were clearly hot. Must have happened again. It would have been hotter in the afternoon.

Everyone in California needs to know about Snitch Tickets, which are fake/phishing red light camera tickets sent out by the police in an effort to fool the registered owner into identifying the actual driver of the car. (SoCal cities using this “social engineering” tactic are Bakersfield, Corona, Del Mar, Encinitas, Escondido, Garden Grove, Hawthorne, Inglewood, Laguna Woods, Los Alamitos, Oceanside, Riverside, Santa Ana, Santa Clarita, Solana Beach, South Gate, Victorville and Vista.) Snitch tickets have not been filed with the court, so they don’t say “Notice to Appear,” don’t have the court’s address and phone # on them, and usually say, on the back (in small letters), “Do not contact the court about this notice.” Since they have not been filed with the court, they have no legal weight whatsoever. You can, and should, ignore a Snitch Ticket. If in doubt, Google the term.

Also, a REAL camera ticket from ANY city in LA County can be ignored, as the LA courts do not report ignored tickets to the DMV. (This was revealed in multiple LA Times articles last summer. It is applicable ONLY to cities in LA county.)

Sorry SDHenry, but you are very mistaken. Any red light camera violation is a real ticket, it is sent to the registered owner of the vehicle first, as a courtesy - the "snitch" part - to give someone a chance to say it wasn't me but it was . . . If there is no response, the ticket is filed in a court against the registered owner. The court doesn't care who pays or goes to traffic school, as long as the ticket is handled. If its not taken care of, it goes to collections and the registered owner's license will be suspended. While your comments about L.A. county camera tickets maybe technically correct, but my advice after 15 years in the biz is to never screw with the court. It will catch up to you eventually. I've talked to many in my biz who it comes back to haunt them years later, now facing thousands of dollars in court fees and unable to renew their licenses, especially when one does something on the public record, like buying a house or applying for unemployment. They'll find you. Many had to hire an atty. to clear their record.

"CalifComedy" (CC) is the one mistaken. He, and anyone else who doubts the advice I gave, merely needs to Google "Snitch Ticket" to see examples of the fake tickets.

As to the tickets in LA County, more than a hundred thousand people have ignored their tickets, so one would expect that there would be thousands of people "haunted" in the way CC warns. Yet, while I too talk to "many in my biz" I haven't heard from even one person who has had trouble years later.

Sorry SDHenry, but you are very mistaken. Any red light camera violation is a real ticket, it is sent to the registered owner of the vehicle first, as a courtesy - the "snitch" part - to give someone a chance to say it wasn't me but it was . . . If there is no response, the ticket is filed in a court against the registered owner

A "snitch ticket" is NOT a real ticket, it is not a "ticket" at all, it is a fake, official looking document to try to trick the registered owner into "admitting" they were driving the vehicle because the person reviewing the ticket cannot determine if the driver IS the registered owner. You cannot file a ticket with the court against an unknown person, or against the registered owner as yo claim, that is simply false..

Gov. Brown just signed a bill restricting red light cameras, making it illegal to install them to create income and to make it easier to fight some tickets. I do not have all the details but this is sorely needed.
These cameras, in my opinion, are an outrage. Most of the tickets are given out to drivers who make "rolling turns", mostly to the right. The fee is over $400, before one goes to court, traffic school, or chooses to hire an attorney.
I was given one in Vista, at Sycamore and Shadowridge, only a 3-way intersection, for a rolling-right violation. This was my second ticket in over seventy years of driving and the initial penalty was $436.
I went to court, which was a mistake, as it reminded me of the Nazi Courts I knew of when I was in the Army in Germany in 1945. There was absolutely no consideration from the "commissioner", who simply handed out the verdicts, all guilty.
This whole experience has cost me over $1000, because in my perhaps foolish rage I did not attend the laughable traffic school, so my insurance was doubled. The experience has caused me to despise the judicial system and the legislators who passed the bills authorizing these robots installed.

rulucam properly admits that he does not have all the details abou the bill Gov. Brown signed. It doesn't restrict the cameras. It is an Industry bill and makes it much harder to fight the tickets. Brown signed it because he wants the money from the tickets. To read a detailed discussion of the bill go to the Action/Legis page on highwayrobbery daht net.